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The microcinema Spacy will host a program titled Visual AIDS Day With(out) Art 2025 on Wednesday, Dec. 3.
The event is held following World AIDS Day earlier this week.
World AIDS Day has been observed globally on Dec. 1 to show solidarity and support for people affected by the virus since its designation by two World Health Organization (WHO) officials in 1988.
AIDS is the most advanced stage of the infection known as HIV, which is transferred through bodily fluids. HIV has flu-like symptoms, such as fevers or chills, that typically show up two to four weeks after infection, according to HIVinfo.NIH.gov.
The AIDS crisis emerged in the early 1980s and brought hysteria with it. AIDS was viewed as “a gay disease” although it affects everyone and that stigma made it seem to many that “the U.S. government had been willfully ignoring what had grown into a global health emergency.”
As of 2024, an estimated 40.8 million were living with HIV across the globe with 630,000 people dying from HIV-related causes that year, according to WHO.
Visual AIDS first organized “Day Without Art” after the second World AIDS Day in 1989 in response to the worsening crisis. Each year since, the organization has commissioned and distributed a video program for what was later renamed “Day With(out) Art,” coordinating screenings at over 100 venues around the world.
This year’s screening will include “Meet Us Where We’re At” which features six new videos from international artists that highlight the intersection of harm reduction with the ongoing crisis and the experience of people who use drugs, according to their website.
The program is free to attend with registration and will start at 7:30 p.m.
Spacy is located in Tyler Station at 1300 S. Polk Street.
